Military officials display for the press what is believed to be debris from a North Korea-launched rocket at a naval fleet in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on Feb. 11, 2016. The pieces, three in total, were retrieved from the ocean floor in the Yellow Sea. North Korea launched the rocket on Feb. 7 and claimed it put an Earth observation satellite into orbit, but it is widely viewed as a test of its intercontinental ballistic missile technology. (Yonhap)
Members of South Korea’s conservative civic groups rally in Seoul on Feb. 11, 2016, to condemn North Korea for launching a long-range rocket, a move widely believed to be a de facto test-firing of a long-range ballistic missile. (Yonhap)
Kim Jong-un is either taking a very hardline against corruption or this is just a cover to eliminate people he doesn’t completely trust or may be it is both:
North Korea has executed its army chief of staff, Ri Yong Gil, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, which, if true, would be the latest in a series of executions, purges, and disappearances under the country’s young leader.
The news comes amid heightened tension surrounding the isolated North Korea after its Sunday launch of a long-range rocket, which came about a month after it drew international condemnation for conducting its fourth nuclear test.
A source familiar with North Korean affairs also told Reuters that Ri had been executed. The source declined to be identified, given the sensitivity of the matter.
Ri, who was chief of the Korean People’s Army General Staff, was executed this month for corruption and factional conspiracy, Yonhap and other South Korean media reported. [Business Insider via reader tip]
If THAAD is going to be deployed to South Korea it appears it will happen pretty rapidly:
The United States hopes to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea “as quickly as possible” and the two countries will begin formal discussions on the matter “in the next few days,” the Defense Department said Monday.
“We would like to see this move as quickly as possible. We’re beginning the consultations now in the coming days with the South Koreans and we expect that this will move in an expeditious fashion,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said at a briefing.
Shortly after North Korea’s long-range missile launch Sunday, South Korea and the U.S. announced they would launch formal consultations on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to the South to better defend against the North’s nuclear and missile threats. [Korea Times]
The South Korean military confirms on Feb. 9, 2016, that North Korea successfully launched a three-stage rocket on Feb. 7, putting a satellite into orbit. (Graphic provided by Defense Ministry) [Yonhap]
This has been something I have been saying for years that the Kaesong Industrial Complex is a cash cow for the Kim regime which further helps them build the very weapons they use to threaten South Korea and the international community with:
South Korea said Wednesday it has decided to “completely” shut down a joint industrial complex in North Korea in response to the North’s recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.
The Unification Ministry announced that it will suspend the operation of the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North’s border city of the same name, the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation.
Seoul’s move is part of its “bone-numbing” measures against North Korea’s nuclear test on Jan. 6 and its long-range missile launch earlier this week.
On Sunday, the North launched a long-range rocket carrying a satellite, which Seoul and Washington view as a cover for a banned test of intercontinental ballistic technology.
“Despite our efforts to support the Kaesong complex, the factory zone is seen as being used for North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles,” Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said in a press briefing. “We’ve decided to halt the operation of the Kaesong complex to prevent South Korean money from being funneled into the North’s nuke and missile developments and to protect our companies.” [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link, but I think the Park administration has left Kaesong open as something of a bargaining chip to make the North Koreans behave. This clearly has not worked and finally the Park administration has had enough and shut it down.
For the Banco Delta Asia type of sanctions to work the US must be willing to play hardball with Chinese banks and cut them off from the international financial system:
The United States does not rule out imposing sanctions on North Korea similar to the 2005 financial restrictions that had almost cut off the communist nation from the international financial system, the White House spokesman said Monday.
“I wouldn’t rule out additional steps like that,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said at a briefing in response to a question whether unilateral sanctions the U.S. is currently considering against Pyongyang would be different from the 2005 measures.
At that time, the Treasury Department blacklisted a Macau bank. The measure not only froze North Korean money in the bank named Banco Delta Asia, but also scared away other financial institutions from dealing with Pyongyang for fear they would also be blacklisted.
That resulted in the North getting almost cut off from the international financial system. [Yonhap]
Via a reader link it appears that the North Koreans have not corrected the mistakes from their first satellite launch since this satellite is reportedly tumbling out of control in orbit as well:
The satellite North Korea fired into space on Sunday is “tumbling in orbit” and incapable of functioning in any useful way, a senior U.S. defense official told CNN.
Sunday’s launch of the long-range rocket triggered a wave of international condemnation and prompted strong reaction from an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
North Korea maintained the launch was for scientific and “peaceful purposes.”
South Korea has recovered about 270 pieces of debris, believed to have come from the rocket launch, from the ocean Sunday and is working to analyze the objects, a South Korean Defense Ministry official told CNN. [CNN]
You can read the rest at the link, but probably more important to the North Koreans is that it appears they have proven that they have perfected their rocket technology with another successful launch. Over at 38North.org they even have more great analysis about the technical achievement the North Koreans have accomplished with this launch.
